No tinsel, but there will be cake during this celebration of all things fiber

By Emily Mentzer, Lebanon Express writer

The Seventh Annual Christmas in August at Quality Llama Products, Inc., will be Aug. 14 and 15.

The event is a yearly fundraiser with free workshops and speakers and ends with a live auction. Proceeds from the auction support camelid research and disaster relief.

Items to be auctioned are donated by Quality Llama Products and other local businesses.

This year, the company celebrates its 30-year anniversary with a barbeque and birthday cake at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, alpacas will be onsite for visitors to see and pet. Door prizes and a treasure hunt are just some of the activities planned.

Cindy Lewis, of Quality Llama Products, said they are still getting things in, but some items available are a scale for weighing animals, a promotional package from Gateway Imprints and a fancy handmade birdhouse, "more of a bird condo, really," she said.

"It's all about raising money for the research," Lewis said.

Most livestock drugs are made for cattle and horses, she explained, whereas alpacas and llamas are ruminates. Though they often can use similar treatments, they are different kinds of livestock and have different issues.

Research on the animals can improve the ability to take care of and maintain them, to understand them, Lewis said.

The company plans to have a booth set up in Ralston Park to participate in Art in the Park on Saturday.

At the booth, participants can watch fiber demonstrations or buy fiber.

Kim DeVos-Brooks will have a booth set up for alpaca fashion products, such as sweaters or socks.

"Not that anyone will be thinking about a sweater in this heat," Lewis said. "But alpaca is a hollow fiber, so alpaca socks will keep you cool when it's hot or warm when it's cool."

Alpaca is considered a royal fiber, she continued. It's soft.

People who are allergic to wool are not allergic to alpaca, Lewis added. It has no lanolin and does not itch.

"If it's 100 percent alpaca, it won't itch," she said. "They have really comfortable clothing that can be worn all year round."

Along with the booth at Ralston Park, tables will be set up at the company's location on Park Street to learn everything from drop spinning to knitting to fiber felting.

"They can teach you how to do it and you can play with it," Lewis said. "Everything has to do with fiber."

The company got started in 1979.

"Our company is international," Lewis said. "We have 40,000 customers worldwide."

Most of the customers who will attend the Christmas in August event are from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California, she said.

Quality Llama Products is located at 585 Park St.

Informational presentations set

Speakers come from as far as Southern California this year. Presentations start at 8:30 a.m. Friday.

Patrick Long, DVM, is a mixed-animal practitioner in Corvallis. Llamas and alpacas make up more than half of his practice.

He will present a seminar on parasites and parasite control at 8:30 a.m. on Friday.

Blair and Lee Anne Timmerman own Solar T Alpaca Ranch and Starry Nights Mill.

Blair Timmerman will present analyzing and preparing fiber for processing, covering different aspects and types of fiber, at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

At 2:30 p.m. the same day, Lee Anne Timmerman will demonstrate the drop spindle spinning technique. Participants are invited to give it a try.

On Saturday morning, Eric Hoffman, retired educator, author and nature writer, will team up with Long to talk about evaluating animals and what to look for as a camelid breeder. They will talk at 8 a.m.

Kim DeVos-Brooks of Inca Fashions will join with Nancy Chlarson, president of Quality Llama Products, to discuss marketing animals and business, with a focus on fiber.